Trial 017 - 2019 Wattys Sci-Fi Winner

Chapter 10

Just looking at the sky itself, I could almost convince myself that we were still on Terra. The sun was slightly smaller than back at home, but the clouds were still fluffy and the sky was still blue. The air was breathable, too, albeit a little thinner than what I was used to.

Then, I looked down at the alien trees below and I remembered where we were. As far as the eye could see, every tree was like the ones we encountered on the ground, twisting and intertwining like an overgrown bramble. We were flying just above the treeline, but the shrieks and grunts of animal wildlife rose up from the jungle, the cacophony of alien fauna that probably wanted to eat us.

Nessie, Tanvir's nickname for his Summoned beast and our ride, flew quickly over the trees, the air gliding off its wings like a blade sliding through water. Calvin was steering, seated at the base of its neck. I was near the back, clinging to one of Nessie's fins for dear life. Every patch of turbulent air we slipped through made it feel as if I was a breath away from falling off.

"Relax, Charlie," Tanvir called over the wind. He'd found a seat between two spines where he was safely wedged on the creature's back. "You look like you're about to hurl."

"I am about to hurl," I snapped. "There aren't any good seats!"

"You'll get used to it," he said.

"Just relax," Bekah advised, balancing on the balls of her feet. "It's not that hard."

"Exactly what an aerokinetic would say," I countered, glowering at Bekah. "And Tanvir's got a good seat, so he's got no complaints either."

The wind picked up, and I ducked my head. This ride had better be short, because I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take.

"Been summoning Nessie since I was six," Tanvir said. "I summoned Nessie for the first time when I was being tested for the Ogun Academy, just the way you see her. Needless to say, Nessie got me the spot."

"You're a Nethermancer?" I asked, incredulous.

Nethermancers were a special class of Psychics that were capable of summoning spirits and manipulating extradimensional matter. There was even a whole guild dedicated to them, back at home.

"Yeah," Tanvir said. "Nessie's my favorite by far, but she's not the only one I can summon."

"How'd you do the thing you did before?" I asked. "When you did stuff to the shadows."

"Aethereal matter," he said.

My confusion must have been clear on my face, because Tanvir and Bekah both laughed. I gave them a look, and Tanvir explained.

"It's the same thing Nessie's body's made of," he said, rapping his knuckles against the creature's hide. "Nethermancers can manipulate aethereal matter. The only difference between that and summoning is when you summon a spirit, you get the spirit to animate the aethereal matter for you. Like so."

"Oh," I said, pretending it made complete sense.

Tanvir cocked his head, the wind mussing up his hair.

"What about you two?" he asked. "I don't know anything about you guys."

"Well, there's not much to tell," Bekah said. "I'm an aerokinetic, like Charlie said. Been on the Dirga gladiator team for two years. Won regional both times, but last year we came in second for national."

"Yeah, that's because we took national both times," Tanvir countered as Bekah scowled. "How about you, Charlie? Which Academy are you from?"

"Actually," Bekah said, "Charlie's from the Institute. The Cadmus Institute."

"Wow, really?" Tanvir asked, sitting up. "They don't have any gladiator teams there, do they?"